Newsletter: March 2025 Edition
My Latest Book, An Excellent Author Interview from the Archives, Entertainment Recommendations, and More
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Photo by Scott Semegran
Welcome to the March 2025 edition of my newsletter. It’s been a great month so far! I published a new book on March 4th. I was a featured author at a book festival on March 8th. But as I’ve long known, I’m on the proverbial roller coaster in the life of an author. Whenever good things happen, silence and rejection is sure to follow. Sigh. But I guess that’s life as some say. Anyway, upward and onward to the newsletter.
Let’s start off by saying that my latest book Starman After Midnight came out on March 4th and I couldn'‘t be happier. I love its pocketbook-sized format and newsprint-style paper. It's received some lovely reviews which you can read on Booklist, BlueInk Review, Kirkus Reviews, Lone Star Literary Life, and so on. I had the best pre-order campaign of any of my books so far. It’s a humorous little book with some mystery and suspense, even a tad of magical realism. It takes place in a suburban neighborhood where two beer-drinking neighbors who couldn’t be more different discover a naked man on their security cameras walking around at night. They form a posse of neighbors to find out who this mysterious man is. I would love it if you bought a paperback or eBook.
I was a featured author at the Hill Country Literary Festival this past weekend in Bulverde, Texas at the Mammen Family Public Library. What a beautiful library and a fun event. I was on the “Paths to Publishing” panel with three other authors. Our moderator was Lori Mammen who asked great questions. I also read a couple of pages from my new novel Starman After Midnight. There were so many great authors featured there including May Cobb, Katie Gutierrez, Kimberly Garza, Lucy Griffith, Jenny Browne, and so many more. I sold some books and signed some books, plus got a sweet swag bag. A fantastic day overall!
I completed the first draft of a new novel back in January and I’m very happy with it, so I will be revising it for the first time in a couple of weeks. I decided to take six weeks off to give myself a break, rest my hands, and mull the story over in my mind for a little while. I’ve been hankering to write, but I’ve stuck to my “resting” schedule. I think it’s a good thing. In the past, I would have told myself to wait a few weeks, but would have started revising within a matter of days. I just couldn’t help myself in the past; I would’ve missed writing too much. But I’ve stuck to this forced break this time around and I think it’ll be good for my mental state. Wish me luck, y’all!
An Excellent Author Interview from the Archives
Here’s a great Austin Liti Limits interview I conducted with NYT bestselling author KEVIN WILSON! He talks about mulling over his stories in his mind for years before he begins to write them. Great talk! Watch this fantastic interview here:
https://austinlitilimits.com/episodes/episode-21-kevin-wilson.html
Entertainment Recommendations
It’s rough out there these days. So what better way to hole up and entertain yourself than with a great book, movie, album, or TV show? Here’s the section of my newsletter where I recommend some things I’ve read or watched or listened to recently that I love that I think you’ll love to. Let’s begin!
Book: Brother Brontë: A Novel by Fernando A. Flores. Described as “Two women fight to save their dystopian border town―and literature―in this gonzo near-future adventure,” it’s a wild blend of dystopian themes and fantastical lyricism in a small Texas town dominated by a malevolent mayor wielding power by destroying the culture, particularly books. Highly recommended!
Movie: A Real Pain. The latest film by Jesse Eisenberg is fantastic. A movie about two cousins who were bequeathed money by their deceased grandmother to visit her childhood home in Poland is a comedic marvel. Kieran Culkin deservedly won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as Benji, a character both annoying and endearing. Worth watching!
Music: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory. The latest album by Sharon Van Etten finds her sharing credit with her backing band. This is a post-punk-style album with nods to Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Order, Jane’s Addiction, and more. Fantastic record!
TV Show: Shrinking on Apple TV. This series stars Jason Segel as a grieving therapist who decides to become drastically more involved in his patients’ lives. Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, and more also star in this funny yet endearing yet occasionally dark series where the therapists are just as screwed up as their patients. Great show!
Subscriber Shout Out
Thank you to Bill Cusano for being my latest paid subscriber! I appreciate all of my subscribers, but please consider becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter and supporting it for as little as five bucks a month, or just fifty bucks for an entire year. Thank you in advance! If no one has told you yet, you’re amazing! Thank you for supporting the arts and writers like me. :)
I can’t sign off without mentioning that I have a new book out now called STARMAN AFTER MIDNIGHT as well as my previous three novels for your reading pleasure. They’re available everywhere you buy books and three of them are also in audiobook format. Find a retailer at these links:
Latest Novel: STARMAN AFTER MIDNIGHT (2025)
Previous Novel: THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW (2024)
The Novel Before That: THE BENEVOLENT LORDS OF SOMETIMES ISLAND (2020)
The Novel Before That One: TO SQUEEZE A PRAIRIE DOG (2019)
Again, thank you for your support. Until next month, read more books, watch more movies, listen to more music, support your local bookstores, support your local library, be good to each other, and above all else: volunteer in your community. I volunteer for Brighter Bites, a non-profit that has delivered more than 65,000,000 pounds of fresh produce and millions of nutrition education materials to more than one million individuals (including teachers) in multiple cities across the country. Very cool!
Sincerely,
Scott
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